In the 1960’s, Walt Disney Productions was riding high. While the studio had been largely successful for most of its 40+ years, it zoomed into the stratosphere at a time when other studios were rapidly losing ground to television and a changing entertainment landscape. When other studios shunned television in the 1950’s, Walt Disney had embraced it, using the new medium to promote his latest projects. He was handsomely rewarded for doing so; his amazing magic kingdom opened before a television audience of over 100 million viewers. Literally overnight, a pilgrimage to his magic kingdom in Anaheim, California became a dream of millions of children around the world.
While a great deal of the success the company enjoyed was credited to Walt Disney and his team of artists, the most important component to the company’s success was arguably
Walt’s brother Roy Disney. Roy’s contributions to the company are often overlooked and even when he is mentioned, he’s often portrayed as a skinflint who stood in the way of Walt Disney’s biggest dreams. In actuality, the Disney brothers had a relationship that was closer and more complex than most articles or books depict. (This site is guilty of this as well.) So to kick off the new year, we shall correct this oversight by bringing you the story of the lesser known Disney brother- Roy Oliver Disney.
